The Warrior's Pride
by Hyber Unknown
Summary: This is about the past of Red XIII and what he went through during the attack of the Gi Nattak


*****DISCLAIMER*****  
I don't own any of these characters. Squaresoft does.  
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Little Nanaki knew something was wrong. He could smell it. He could smell the fear and anger of the townspeople. As far as he knew it was something called the Gi Nattak, whatever that may be. Nanaki didn't concern himself with all that. He wanted to find his parents. He had looked everywhere, but his parents were nowhere in sight. "I guess I won't be able to practice hunting today. They even promised me we would go." he said in a sad tone. A few of the townspeople noticed Nanaki walking around and told him to go see his grandfather as soon as possible. He figured he had nothing better to do then to go see his grandpa.  
As he was walking up the path to his grandfather's observatory he noticed that a few men were sharpening crude weapons of human design. He asked one of the men why he was doing that. The man just gave the same reply everyone else had. They said the Gi Nattak were coming. 'Whoever they are, they must be pretty mean. The humans have never sharpened metal before.' he thought to himself as he came to the observatory. He heard loud voices coming from the inside. He paused before entering and listened. He heard his fathers voice rise above the voices.  
"I can't just sit around and watch others die! I have to go!" Seto rampaged.  
"But you mustn't. Think of your child Seto." said Nanaki's grandfather.  
"But if I don't go, we will all die. For what? I see no reason to risk so many lives when it can be done with one." Nanaki's father retorted, "I was sworn to do this. I made a promise and I must go."  
"But you can't." said a calm voice that Nanaki recognized as his mother's.  
There was a pause until Seto piped up again. "You must raise young Nanaki to be a great warrior. Teach him the ways of are people. But never spe..."  
That was all Nanaki heard when a yell from the bottom of the cliff shouted out to all. " THE GI NATTAK ARE HERE. THE GI NATTAK ARE HERE!" Nanaki listened as this sound was echoed all through the canyon. A slam brought his attention back to the observatory. He watched as his father barreled out the door and shot past Nanaki. "Dad, wait!" he yelled to his father. His father turned and looked at him with a look that made Nanaki freeze. The look then softened to one that showed love and happiness.  
"Yes, son?"  
"Where ya goin?"  
"Away." His father said in a low voice. His father started to walk away. Nanaki went to follow, but was stopped when his father turned on him and roared in his powerful voice. The roar stopped Nanaki dead in his tracks. "But...." he whimpered.  
"Do not follow me. I am going away for a long time, and I might never be back."  
"Are you running from those silly Gi Nattak thingies dad?"  
His father paused and contemplated a response. 'If I tell him the truth he will want to come. I can't let that happen.' Seto thought to himself. "Yes, son. I fear the Gi Nattak. I'm running away. I am washing my hands of this business. Goodbye, my son."  
"No....you can't" Nanaki said quietly. That was the last he ever saw of his father as he bounded down path. 'My father is a coward' he thought, ' must show him that these Gi Nattak aren't scary, then he will come back' Nanaki started to walk towards the cave that the people of the village had gone and hadn't come back. 'They must be in there' Nanaki told himself.  
Nanaki's mother had seen the whole conference between her son and husband and decided that she should let Nanaki handle this loss himself. After a few hours she began to worry though. She asked the townspeople what had happened in the past few hours. They said they were swamped with the sick and dying, the battle was still going, and that they had seen Nanaki near the forbidden cave. 'No' she thought to herself, 'couldn't be in there, he knows better. But maybe....' she stopped as she realized what could happen if he was in there.  
Nanaki had been running through the cave during the fighting. He saw the humans fighting with other humans. He didn't know which ones were from his village. But he knew who a few of the bad ones were when they had attacked Nanaki. He had fallen quite a few times and couldn't see out of his right eye. He could taste his blood on his lips as he trudged on through the chaos. He dodged a few spears here and there, and had bitten a few people in the legs, not knowing who was good or bad. It seemed so far that his father had no reason to fear any of the Gi Nattak. He felt himself start to get tired and realized he should find a place to rest. As he kept going he recognized the roar of his mother behind him. He hurried along, not wanting to face the wrath of his angry mother. He saw a cave off to the side and noticed that all people in that area were dead, so he went to hide there. His mother saw him go towards the cave and ran with a speed that her kind was born to have. As Nanaki entered the room he saw a large shadow exit through the other end. As it left he noticed the silhouette of his father follow in its footsteps. He yelled, "FATHER!"  
His Father turned, but did not come back. 'I'm sorry' Seto thought as he cast the earth spell on the cave. The ground shook as Nanaki ran for his father. He dodged rocks as they came crumbling through the cave. He was halfway there when he felt a jerk on the back of his neck as his mother clamped her teeth around his neck. She turned him around and ran through the cave dodging the rocks as they came down all around them. Nanaki struggled to free him self. But stopped as he felt himself be thrown. He landed on all fours like a cat. He looked back at the cave and watched as the boulders came down around his mother. He started for her, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He recognized the sent of his grandfather and stopped. "There is nothing you can do." Bugenhagen said.  
"But she......she..." Nanaki whimpered.  
" I know, but you mustn't die, you are too young."  
Nanaki stood in silence as he watched his mother struggle to free herself from the falling rocks. He lost all sight of her as a large rock fell into the cave entrance, sealing it. "Why did my dad run like a coward grandpa?"  
"For you."  
"That makes no sense. I feel ashamed to be his son." Nanaki said weakly.  
"You will learn, my child."  
"When?....and how?" was the response.  
"When you are older. You have already learned something." said Bugenhagen.  
"What did I learn? That makes no sense?"  
"You learned not to cry and pride."  
"Pride in what?"  
"In your father."  
"He was weak. I hope I grow up not to be like him. I want to grow up like my mom, who fought the Gi Nattak. She died saving me. That's all the pride I noticed."  
"You'll see, Nanaki, you'll see....."  
  
  
The End  
  
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I feel that this was my worst fic yet, but please review it. You can even flame it if you want.  



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